Q: What is the purpose of the Fidelity Checklist?
A: The Fidelity Checklist is a helpful tool for a whole-school approach to implementing the Open Parachute curriculum. It is a detailed roadmap for promoting fidelity within a campus for three (or more) consecutive years. It provides an onboarding checklist, as well as a checklist for the first year of implementation, followed by the second year, and the third year onwards for consistent implementation.
We know that meaningful campus-wide change takes time! Open Parachute encourages a 3+ year roll-out plan to build teacher and student capacity in a sustainable way.
Q: How is the Fidelity Checklist used?
A: The Fidelity Checklist is divided into onboarding steps and separate years of implementation. Each year's page has four columns (from left to right): Administrator Goals, Explicit Teaching, Scaffolding Opportunities, and Student Outcomes.
The Fidelity Checklist can be used as a self-assessment tool and a guide for classroom observations or campus learning walks.
Q: Why are there multiple pages of the fidelity checklist?
A: Each page is designed to focus on each key aspect of school-wide implementation to thoughtfully embed mental health and well-being.
The fidelity checklist is broken down into these individual pages:
Onboarding Checklist: This is the first page of the fidelity checklist, which encourages purposeful and consistent implementation of Open Parachute across all grade levels. It includes detailed administrative and educator checklists, a spot to record team and personal goals, and an overview of the Being Well Model that promotes resilience across the whole school community.
1st Year of Implementation Goal: Connection
The first year of implementation is focused on FEELINGS (from our Being Well Model) for administrator goals, explicit teaching, scaffolding opportunities, and student outcomes. This encourages teachers, administrators, and students to identify and explore their honest emotions in a variety of settings. When this emotional exploration happens across a school, it leads to deeper and more meaningful connections with self and others.
2nd Year of Implementation Goal: Belonging
The second year of implementation is focused on PAUSING (from our Being Well Model) for administrator goals, explicit teaching, scaffolding opportunities, and student outcomes. This encourages teachers, administrators, and students to slow down and pay attention to themselves and others, which becomes possible when we are more connected and emotionally aware. The outcome of this is an increased sense of belonging for everyone in the school community.
3rd+ Years of Implementation Goal: Thriving
The third year of implementation is focused on THINKING and ACTING (from our Being Well Model) for administrator goals, explicit teaching, scaffolding opportunities, and student outcomes. This encourages teachers, administrators, and students to build on their skills of emotional awareness and focus, which allows for deeper reflection and a greater ability to make choices that support well-being. This ultimately leads everyone in the school community to thrive both now and in the future (in their academics, careers, and personal lives).
If you would like more information on reinforcing and facilitating meaningful student learning throughout the school day, refer to our Help Article: Scaffolding Opportunities.
For tips to encourage students to engage with the content, see our Help Article: Helping Students Relate to the Lessons.